Cost of gas, time of parent, choice? Cheaper to feed the child at home.
A few days ago I made a rare early morning run for supplies before the rush hour. This was 6:30 AM and still dark. The streets were flooded with school buses picking up kids from middle class neighborhoods to take to school so they could eat for free.
Most of the time I like our school, but our school is even worse when it comes to breakfast. They run the buses at regular time because they couldn’t possibly make a school employee be their 15 minutes before work. And then the kids that get free breakfast (or those that want to buy it) end up with about 10 minutes to put their stuff in their lockers or cubbies, get in the breakfast line, and eat. Many kids get in trouble for being late. My daughter used to occasionally like to buy on the “egg Mcmuffin†day buts says there just isn’t time. So she eats better at home. Kids whose parents won’t feed them or get it for free are late to class everyday!
My family starts prayers at 6:30 each morning, and the first school bus (elementary, I think) goes by about 10 minutes later. I don’t know whether our local elementary school serves breakfast. (At home, those who can dish up before 6:30 can start eating, while those who arrive at the last minute have to wait 20 or 30 minutes, depending on the day’s lectionary and how long the chapters are in the Bible book we’re presently reading.)